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TIL the original floats in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade were released into the air after the parade because Macy’s didn’t know what to do with them. However they included a ticket that would fall to the ground after they popped. If you found the ticket, you could redeem it for a prize at Macy’s.

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eQME TIL that in 1859, an American farmer in the San Juan Islands shot a pig who was eating his potatoes, but the pig happened to belong to a British colonist. In the ensuing confrontation, 461 Americans and 14 artillery faced 5 British warships with 70 cannons and 2140 men. The only casualty was the pig
J1KLB TIL Battle of the Overpass occurred in 1937 when UAW organizers tried to hand out unionization leaflets but were attacked by Ford's quasi-military security service. Ford then tried to destroy the photographic evidence but one photographer managed to sneak some out under the back seat of his car.
JYlV8 TIL that Beach Boys lead songwriter and musical icon Brian Wilson made a hip-hop song
xVNwb TIL For several hundred thousand years, the Sahara has alternated between desert and savanna grassland in a 20,000 year cycle. The area is next expected to become green in about 15,000 years, in 17,000 AD.
XEG7R TIL The 1st ever jazz recording was offered to Freddie Keppard, but he refused: instead, that honour went to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, an all-white band, who had a $million hit "Livery Stable Blues", which came from a song Keppard had performed.